Han Solo [Large Head] - Jumbo Vintage Kenner Figures

You have to hand it to Gentle Giant Ltd., who seems to be the licensee with the strongest connection to longtime Star Wars collectors. Like Hasbro, Gentle Giant Ltd. knows the power of “vintage” packaging, but because they’re significantly limited with what they can produce under the Star Wars banner, they didn’t allow that to let them stumble and still created an amazing collection of the the original Kenner action figures, but at a jumbo scale. Appropriately called the Jumbo Vintage Kenner Figures line, imagine your Star Wars Kenner action figures exactly as you remember them, but much bigger. The Jumbo Vintage Kenner Figures line has gone through its own learning curve so to speak. Not all of the figures in this line have been perfect. Whether it was mismatched capes or poor design, they’ve quickly risen above the setbacks and found ways to make these pieces up to par as far as quality is concerned. As a result, they’ve been smoothly sailing along and producing some incredible interpretations of some of the most classic Star Wars figures we can remember. But it really doesn’t end there. They also find new and innovative ways to release them. Let’s talk about one of the most popular characters in the line.

Han Solo is on deck now. But instead of just releasing one Jumbo Vintage Kenner Figure version of him, Gentle Giant Ltd. produced both the Large head and Small Head versions to play on the nostalgic factor collectors have for the original action figure. To make things a little more collectible, they’ve released the Han Solo [Small Head] figure at only one per case. but if you’re part of the PGM, you know that Gentle Giant Ltd. was courteous and reserved some of the chase versions for you in a guaranteed pre-order format. With a total of 2500 total Han Solo figures made, only a fraction (one per case) were made with the “small head”. So how does the Han Solo [Large Head] figure stack up to the other figures in the Jumbo Vintage Kenner Figures line? Aside from some very small deco issues, we have to say the they’ve nailed it perfectly. Han Solo [Large Head] will tug at your heart. These figures, though much bigger, transport your memories back to when Star Wars “collecting” was the best. (We really didn’t collect back then, did we? We just really accumulated play things more than anything else.) Han Solo [Large Head] comes with five points of articulation: a swivel head, two swivel shoulders, and two swivel hips. He also comes with his signature blaster pistol (which fits nicely in his opened right hand by the way).

As you might imagine, deco has to be approached in a completely different manner than our original Kenner figures. As a result, the paint jobs are a little bit weak in spots. In fact, if you force the blaster pistol in his hand too hard, you may notice that some of the paint rubs off, so just be careful. They didn’t cast Han Solo [Large Head] in flesh tones, so he has that porcelain look to his face, like he is wearing foundation on his face. But it ends up being a negligible issue because of the simplistic sculpt (thanks to vintage technology). Again, these are small and nitpicking issues. If this is a line that interests you, you clearly aren’t looking for an item that you can play with outside and beat up. This is a high-end collectible that will be safely behind glass or on a shelf secured. The packaging is phenomenal. While a skewed interpretation of the original card back from the vintage Kenner era, Gentle Giant Ltd. has brought forth a wonderful amount of the detail and it looks totally familiar. Han Solo [Large Head] and Han Solo [Small Head] are expected and awesome additions to the Jumbo Vintage Kenner Figures line. Gentle Giant Ltd. appears to show a great interest in this line and it seems that nothing is off limits. It will be interesting to see how far they take this truly collector-focused line.